Thursday, June 25, 2009

I loved this comic back in the early days of Image. I love creator Sam Keith. I loved the MAXX cartoon that originally was part of another great show called MTV's Oddities. Now MTV is streaming episodes of Sam Kieth's MAXX and they still look great. Bring on the weirdness baby!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I was excited about drawing this one. I think it shows. Finally, after years of Barry being hounded by the memory of his conquered homeland, he's starting to get some payback. I've been waiting for this for over three years and I finally get to draw it.

In the script, I didn't plan out the actual fight in the middle of the page. I just let my mind wander and drew what I thought would be cool.

Remember last week I told you I goofed and painted some dwarf blood green instead of orange? The panel where Barry yells about painting the snow orange is what made me slap my forehead and realize I had to go back and change the episode.

Next week, we rejoin Bruce, Tad and...General Bron...

In other news, Atland Book 9 is off to the printer!

And in other, other news, I' ve been invited to tour the DC Comics offices in New York City this Friday. Road trip!

My wife bought me 4 seasons of Samurai Jack after I saw a couple of episodes and went nuts over it.

This is a stunning show. The simplicity is intoxicating, the storytelling is elegant, and the whole vibe ripples with a kind of awesome poetry that most shows never aspire to. If you have not watched it then do so now.

I don't think anyone has mentioned this on these boards which comes as a shock to me but, I'll remedy that. The new movie will be an anthology film much like the first movie. (Thank Moebius for that.) Here's some information on the new Heavy Metal movie due out in 2011. The info was pulled from the Heavy Metal Fan Page which is an awesome source of information and driven by my main man, Heavy Metal Scholar, Dave "Lostboy" Cail.

1. A $50 million budget 3D CG animated movie based on the magazine. This probably won't have any stories from the first 1981 movie, however like the first one, it will feature around seven or eight different stories. Each segment will be directed by a different person. The title to this movie hasn't been chosen yet. This current title is just a placeholder.2. Release Date - Tentatively 2011 (as of May 14 2009), but currently still negotiating with studio(s) (as of May 12 2009). It was expected that there would be an official announcement with more details approximately before June 11 2009 (as of May 12 2009), but that date passed with no announcement. Expected to start production Summer 2009 (as of March 29 2009).3. Main Crew:Executive Producer - David Fincher and James CameronProducer - Kevin Eastman and Tim MillerDirector - David Fincher (1 segment)Director - James Cameron (1 segment)Director - Zack Snyder (1 segment, a story that Kevin Eastman wrote)Director - Gore Verbinski (1 segment)Director - Mark Osborne (1 segment, a comedy with Jack Black)Director - Tim Miller (1 segment)Director - Jeff Fowler (1 segment)Director - Kevin Eastman (tentatively 1 segment)Director - Guillermo del Toro (tentatively 1 segment)Director - Rob Zombie (tentatively 1 segment)Writer - Marc Laidlaw (1 segment)Writer - Steve Niles (1 segment)Writer - Joe Haldeman (1 segment)Writer - Neal Asher (1 segment)Writer - Kevin Eastman (1 segment, a story that Zack Snyder will direct)? - Jack Black (a comedy segment that Mark Osborne will direct. No details on how he's involved, but most likely will be an actor)? - Jhonen Vasquez (no details on how he's involved, but most likely will be a writer)

That's pretty impressive. I hope it's as good as it looks on paper.I'm praying for a Drunna or Lorna segment.Check out Lostboy's Heavy Metal Fan Page. This thing is loaded to the hilt with all the info you'll ever need, including cover scans, news, info on Metal Hurlant, Epic Illustrated and tons more. You may even find a few desktop wallpaper's by your's truly. A bit dated but they're still cool.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I was originally going to paint this but, all that greenery got to me and I had to throw down some inks. If I knew that I was going to ink this I would've never thrown all those little flowers in there. It'll probably be worth it once the color is in. We'll see.

When I have more time and have that zen moment of clarity, I'll probably go back and do this as a painting. I tend to say that about everything I do though.

You know what's not fun? Forgetting that dwarf blood in Atland is ORANGE. Not GREEN.

Yeah. You get done coloring the whole episode with all that blood and flatten the Photoshop file...and then realize you goofed. So you have to go in there and paint over all that green with orange. Every drop. Then you have to add highlights.

Fail.

Next week, one of my favorite episodes ever... (with even more ORANGE blood...)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

This is a work in progress. I didn't go into it with any firm concept so I'm waiting for the picture to tell me what it wants to be. I think that we're just about there.

I've been entertaining the thought of expanding my universe into more illustration work; prints, posters, etc. It's a process that I enjoy but just don't do enough of; leaning more toward the sequential side of things. I usually don't have the patience to work on one particular image for more than one sitting. I'm trying to change that.

The second chapter of Major Tom is now alive and kicking at the Underground Pop site. Did the Major survive being sucked into a black hole? Dead or alive, the Major's adventure continues, for at least ten more pages. Check it out!

Still experimenting with this technique. The idea is to eliminate as many lines as possible. This is a real departure for me since 99% of my work is really focused on the character of the lines and brush strokes.

Take Zyn Dweomer for example. I use a 30 pt round brush for inking on a 400dpi 8.5 x 3.25 canvas. A 30 pt brush means I get a lot of line width variation - which is exactly what I like. In my older art I used PITT brush pens and drew on small paper sizes so I was getting a very similar effect.

But here I'm trying to concentrate of reduction of forms, simplicity, design, and color. I'm drawing these pretty big, usually with a hard pencil tool at 10 pt or less with as little line variation as possible (since the lines will disappear). I'm doing this mainly to explore a new comic idea, but also to test myself. To challenge myself.

A few years ago I contributed art to Ron Edwards’ role-playing game Trollbabe. The game was originally only sold as a PDF download (still available) but in July it will be available in print sporting all new cover art and significantly re-written by one of the most creative and capable hands in RPG design.

I highly recommend you get this book even if you don’t play. Ron makes good stuff.

So "Captain Scar" finally has a real name! And lo and behold...she and Inky are acquainted. I don't suppose I have to re-tell the tale of Inky being a former spy for the dwarves. If you've been reading along, you already know that.

When Inky ends up facing off against just about any other "normal sized" character in ATLAND, I really have to put on my thinking cap. How would a little guy be able to come out on top when faced with superior brawn? His best defense is his sharp mind. I've always viewed Lily as the brains of our group, but Inky is infinitely more street-smart. And when talking doesn't work, we've already seen that Inky's great at the lethal sneak attack; cutting throats on more than one occasion.

This one's the last plot mover (AKA, "talky") episode before the balls-out finale battle starts in earnest.

Next week, we rejoin Bruce, Barry and Tad as they commence with the ass kicking.

I did this image based on a rough sketch. I used flat colors with paint bucket fills and pencil only - no soft brushing of any kind. The original was something like 4" x 6", then obviously reduced to a very small size.

Friday, June 5, 2009

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this past week and haven't really applied myself to anything creative other than trying to get some sleep which has been hard to come by. Last night I managed to partake in some serious REMs, thank the gods. Now, when I dream it's never anything spectacular or cool. I don't know why. I never dream of flying or nailing Kate Beckinsale. Usually my dreams, and I kid you not, are pretty foreboding. They usually involve an imposing dark city street or a dimly lit parking garage. There always seems to be some element of danger. most of the time I'm searching for a friend who may be in trouble and there's usually dogs of some sort. The mutts attack me but never hurt me. I have these dreams quite a bit. Last night, that all changed. I'm sharing because it excited me and maybe it's relevant to being uncreative all week or something...I don't know.

I'm walking through a wooded area at night. The moon is out lighting up the woods in a nice way. I'm very content. I see a man, with his back to me sitting on a rock with a sketchboard, drawing. He's staring out into a valley. I'm wondering how he could be drawing in the dark. As I get closer, I see that his face is lit up and his drawing board is glowing. It reminded me a bit of drawing in the dark with a lighttable. As I look over his shoulder he smiles and moves his hands to let me see. I see that on his drawing board there is a female figure and it's almost like a hologram. The man smiles again at me and says something in a different language. Sadly...I wake up.

The drawing and the man was no doubt Jean "Moebius" Giraud, one of my biggest inspirations as a creator. I never have dreams like this. it was very cool. Usually I brush aside my little "night movies" after a few minutes but the imagery in this one has me smiling all day. I did attempt to go back to sleep in hopes of continuing the dream. I had so many questions to ask but, it wasn't meant to be.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I've really warmed up to Captain Scar. In the episode where she first appeared, the script I wrote had absolutely no details about her. In fact I didn't even specify that she was a woman. It just said somehting like, "General Bron is approached by a dwarven captain." I remember I was pressed for time that week and couldn't take the extra steps to sit down and do ANY concept design for this "dwarven captain" so I literally designed her right on the page. I just started drawing a dwarven woman on a whim. My rough sketches never have hair until I tighten up the art before inking and she looked so cool without hair, I left her that way.

I had NO IDEA she would end up playing such a big part in the story. I figured she show up in 1 or 2 episodes and then I show her fighting in the potatoman battle and maybe she'd show up dead on the battlefield at some point. But she's growing into an important plot mover. Even more important than you guys know about yet.

Coming up...Captain Scar stands between Inky, and the lair of the Nameless One.

And after that...strap on your chainmail, kids. It's time for battle royale.

Also, I have an idea for a new contest dealing with Atland Season 2. More on that as I figure it out.

"One thing is for certain. The time you spend on a page does not equal the “quality” of that page. Some artists I’ve admired over the years have made what I think is a mistake in thinking. Tim Vigil once criticized other artists for cranking out a couple pages a day instead of spending a couple days on a page. His meaning was that you ought to labor over each and every line and make the pages as lush as possible. Richard Corben once said that the artwork was far more important than the story. Well, maybe for the comics he makes that is true. I buy his work for his art, not his stories.

But I think these guys are getting it wrong on a fundamental level. The visuals, the writing, everything that goes into making a comic is a package deal. It is not accurate to say that one is more important than another. Also, it is not accurate to assume that more time spent on a page will make that page better. Or, perhaps more to the point, it won’t necessarily make the comic better. What makes a comic better is doing it right from top to bottom. And in some cases that means simpler art or simpler stories – not more lush or more complex."

That isn't to say I devalue what Corben or Vigil have done. Actually, these are two of my favorites from their time or all time. The point is I think this fundamental concept that visuals trump story is a flawed idea.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Chapter 2 of Major Tom is going smoothly and I'm anxious to share it with everyone. I think that I should wrap it up and post it to the UPOP Site in about 2 weeks. I have no set schedule for the chapters to come out. I'm going with the "muse" on this one but, I'm doing my best to make sure there isn't a real long wait in between chapters. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

I escaped the pavement last weekend and made my way to the New England countryside to do some writing and clear out the cobwebs. It was a success! I've posted some pics here. While up at Zen House, I did a lot of writing and fleshing out a possible new project that I'm very excited to get started on. I'll share more when it's further along.

Cool things that made me smile this week:

1. Artist extraordinaire MIKE HOFFMAN'S blog and website.2. My buddy Cat Garza's webcomic, Year of the Rat and the announcement of a print collection of some of his Magic Inkwell comics. This has me psyched!3. Guillermo Del Toro is taking the Vampire back to it's horrific roots in his new book, "The Strain". Hopefully that'll kill the "Beverly Hills 90210 with Fangs" trend.